Smaller rallies are scheduled for this weekend in London and Manchester, The Guardian reported. They have been called to protest increases in university tuition and cuts in programs.

"While strike action is always a last resort, it would be the result of the government's refusal to change course and its political choice to press ahead with unnecessary and hugely damaging cuts", Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union, said before the meeting. "It's logical that any industrial action is always more effective if more people are involved and that's what I'll be saying today."

The coalition government's budget cuts are affecting public employees at both local and national levels. The Liverpool City Council announced this week that 1,500 jobs would be eliminated, and the GMB, which represents 600,000 workers in both public and private sectors, said 145,000 local government jobs are at risk across the country.